AUDIT FINDS ERRORS IN SCHOOL STATISTICS
DETROIT — A state Auditor General's Office report shows that
several schools across Michigan maintain incorrect records on
graduation and dropout rates, according to the Detroit Free
Press.

The Auditor General's office reported an inability to get records
from some districts, and an absence of reliability in reports it
does receive. Some districts, for example, show 100 percent
graduation rates while also reporting dropouts in the same class,
the Free Press reported.

"When you put something out that is this inaccurate and has these
kinds of holes, you're doing a disservice," Kurt Metzger, who
collects dropout and graduation statistics for the United Way of
Southeastern Michigan, told the Free Press.

Greg Bird, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget,
said Michigan has no plans to correct the inaccurate figures.

"This is self-reported data; these schools are given an appeals
process," Bird told the Free Press.

Some say the state should take steps to make sure the information
is accurate, because the data is used to determine yearly
progress standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

"I don't understand why you would use something that you know is
wrong," Dan DeGrow, superintendent of St. Clair County Regional
Educational Service Agency, told the Free Press. "It affects
local districts on AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and other
things, and it's not fair for them to go ahead and use it if it's
wrong. It's not enough that they publish it and people see it,
there are actual consequences for it."

For example, the audit found Bath High School, which reported a
100 percent graduation rate for the class of 2003, actually
graduated 84 percent, while Ypsilanti Lincoln High School, which
graduated more than 80 percent of students in 2004, reported a
graduation rate of just 43 percent that year, according to the
Free Press.

SCHOOLS SUING STATE OVER BACKGROUND CHECKS
LANSING, Mich. — About 460 school districts from across Michigan
are suing the state over requirements in the Student Safety
Initiative laws, according to The Detroit News.

Designed to protect students from criminals working in schools,
the laws require school employees to be fingerprinted by July 1,
2008. The suit, filed in the Michigan Court of Appeals, says the
requirement is a violation of the Headlee Amendment to the state
constitution, which prohibits unfunded mandates, The News
reported. The districts are seeking funding for the cost of the
fingerprinting, which is about $65 per employee.

"Out of our general funds we have to get the money to pay for
fingerprinting," Thomas Owczarek, president of the Warren
Fitzgerald school board, told The News. "It's just not fair, and
we want to recoup the money that is rightfully owed to us by the
state."

ESCANABA TEACHERS GET RAISES LINKED TO HEALTH CARE COSTS
ESCANABA, Mich. — The teachers union in Escanaba has agreed to
tie pay increases to the cost of health care premiums, according
to The Daily Press.

Teachers will get a 2.75 percent raise this year, but the second
year could vary from 2.25 percent to 2.75 percent, based on how
successful the district is at containing health insurance costs.

Teachers agreed to continue paying $50 a month towards premiums,
but will pay a larger share toward their own prescription drug
coverage, The Daily Press reported.

"Negotiations is (sic) always a tough process," Dan DeLong,
president of the Escanaba teachers union, told The Daily Press.
"We had our differences, but I feel we worked out a contract that
is fiscally sound for the district and gives us an adequate
raise."

The district still is negotiating with unions that represent
support personnel and administrators.

FORMER SUPERINTENDENT PLEADS NO CONTEST
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A former west Michigan public school
superintendent pleaded no contest to charges of embezzlement,
according to Booth Newspapers.

Wes VanDenburg, who served as superintendent in Caledonia and
Belding, agreed to pay each district $1,500 restitution, along
with lawyer and accountant fees and court costs, Booth reported.

A person who pleads no contest does not admit guilt, but accepts
the court's sentence. VanDenburg is scheduled to be sentenced
Dec. 6 in Kent County Circuit Court.

Caledonia officials found 41 receipts that they said had been
fabricated, and said VanDenburg was paid twice for 26 others,
according to Booth. Prosecutors in Ionia County dropped charges
against VanDenburg associated with Belding schools.

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (http://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
with a circulation of 150,000 published by the Mackinac Center
for Public Policy (http://www.mackinac.org),
a private,
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.